1

2013

‘REPORT OF THE STUDY OF PROACTIVE DISCLOSURE OF

INFORMATION BY DHAKA SOUTH CITY CORPORATION’

Produced by

Research Initiatives Bangladesh, Dhaka House 104, Road 25, Block A, Banani, Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh

Telephone: +88-02-9840830-31 Fax: +88-02-8811962

WWW.RIB-BANGLADESH.ORG

Research Team: Dr. Meghna Guhathakurta – Research Advisor

Suraiya Begum – Point Person

Md. Saidur Rahman – Project Coordinator /Researcher

Md. Humayun Kabir – Research Associate

Ismat Ara – Volunteer

Fakhrul Islam – Volunteer

Md. Abdul Motin – Volunteer

With Support from:

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative WWW.HUMANRIGHTSINITIATIVE.ORG

B-117 Second Floor

Sarvodaya Enclave

New Delhi-110017

Tel: +91-11-43180200,

43180225-229

Fax: +91-11-2686-4688

info@humanrightsinitiative.org

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

2nd Floor, South Block, Senate House

Malet Street, London

WC1E 7HU

Tel: +44-207-862-8857

Fax: +44-207-862-8820

chri@sas.ac.uk

9 Samora Machel Road

Asylum Down Box

CT 6136, Accra

Tel: +233-0302-971170

Fax: +233-0302-244819

chriafrica@humanrightsinitiative.org

and

Affiliated Network for Social Accountability WWW.ANSA-SAR.ORG

Institute of Governance Studies, SK Centre (5th & 6th Floor),

GP, JA-4, TB Gate, Mohakhali, Gulshan, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh

Tel: +88-02-881-0306, 881-0320, 881-0326

Fax: +88-01199810-380

ansa.sar@gmail.com, info@bracu.ac.bd

List of abbreviations and acronyms

ANSA-SAR Affiliated Network for Social Accountability

(South Asia Region)

BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

CHRI Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

CPRO Chief Public Relations Officer

DCC Dhaka City Corporation

DOE Department of Environment

DSCC Dhaka South City Corporation

DWASA Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority

FOI Freedom of Information Ordinance

GOB Government of Bangladesh

IGS Institute of Governance Studies

LGRD Local Government and Rural Development

Miking Announcement on microphone

PRO Public Relations Officer

RAJUK Rajdhani Unnyan Kartipakkha (Capital Development Authority)

RTI Right to Information

SARTIAN South Asia Right to Information Advocates Network

UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme

Contents

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1

1.1. Background of the study .............................................................................................. 1

1.2. Purpose of the study .................................................................................................... 1

1.3. Scope of the study ....................................................................................................... 2

1.4 Methodology of the study ............................................................................................ 2

2. Background ......................................................................................................................... 4

2.1. Basic facts about Dhaka ............................................................................................... 4

2.2 Review of relevant documents to understand overall governance situation of the

Corporation ............................................................................................................................. 4

2.3 Brief history of the Corporation: .................................................................................. 6

2.4 Laws applicable to Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)............................................ 7

2.5 Structure and functions of the corporation .................................................................. 8

2.6 The functions of the corporation .................................................................................. 9

2.7 The powers of the corporation in relation to its duties and functions ....................... 10

2.8 Finances..................................................................................................................... 10

2.9 Budgetary support for the City Corporation ............................................................... 12

3. Principles of openness and transparency as required by the law ...................................... 13

3.1 Guidelines on records management, access to information or proactive disclosure of

information ........................................................................................................................... 13

3.1 Legal provisions governing proactive disclosure ......................................................... 14

3.2 Legal provisions governing committee meetings ........................................................ 15

3.3 Legal provisions governing disclosure of budgets & accounts ................................... 16

3.4 Applicability of the relevant RTI law to the city corporation ...................................... 17

3.5 Manner or medium through which the Corporation must disclose such information 19

4. Openness and transparency as observed in practice: findings of the survey ................... 21

4.1. Web content analysis...................................................................................................... 21

4.2. Categories of website information which do not match the proactive disclosure

requirements under the constituting laws, rules, regulations and bye- laws applicable to the

City Corporation .................................................................................................................... 24

4.3 Categories of information which do not match proactive disclosure requirements

under the applicable RTI Act ................................................................................................ 25

4.4 Assessment of proactive disclosure from office premises ......................................... 26

4.5 Assessment of proactive disclosure through mass media ......................................... 28

4.6 Observations of the research team ............................................................................ 28

4.7 Brief analysis of public opinion (from survey) ............................................................. 29

5. Summary of findings .......................................................................................................... 30

6. Practical recommendations ............................................................................................... 32

Annex 1 Questionnaire for citizens .................................................................................. 35

Annex 2 Questionnaire for Corporation officials [Head office] ......................................... 36

Annex 3 Questionnaire for City Corporation officials [Local Tax/Ward office] ................ 37

Annex 4 Tables (outputs of interviews of the citizens) ...................................................... 38

Annex 5 Answers to RTI queries............................................................................................. 41

Annex 6 Summary of interviews of the Corporation’s officials ....................................... 46

Annex 7 Notices of the City Corporation through notice board, newspaper, and billboards

etc. including photographs.................................................................................................. 47

1

1. Introduction

1.1. Background of the study

In South Asia, the first right to information laws were passed in India at the provincial

level during the late 1990s. Pakistan was the first country to adopt a national level

access law [Freedom of Information Ordinance (FOI)] in 2002. Later India, Nepal and

Bangladesh enacted laws requiring governments at all levels to become transparent.

Usage of such laws varies from country to country and within each country. One

common factor noticed across the region is the increasing number of requests made to

urban local bodies such as City Corporations and municipalities. These bodies are

responsible for providing a range of services and amenities to people in their jurisdiction.

Given the size and concentration of urban populations, it is only natural to expect

increased interaction between people and such local self-governing bodies in the

context of the former’s needs and latter’s duties and responsibilities laid own in law.

Ordinarily the statutes establishing such bodies require them to disclose some

categories of information to their clientele proactively. Where such bodies are covered

by the national or provincial (State) FOI/RTI1 law, they have additional obligations to be

transparent event to the extent of responding to information requests under strict

timelines and sometimes on pain of penalty.

Members of the South Asia Right to Information Advocates Network (SARTIAN)

Community of Practice (CoP) have been filing information requests with various public

authorities including urban local bodies. These efforts are linked to their own plans of

action and strategies designed to bring abut governance reform in their countries.

During discussions with some of the partners based in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, a

common concern emerged, namely, inadequate levels of transparency in the working of

urban local bodies. As such, with support from ANSA-SAR2, the Commonwealth Human

Rights Initiative initiated and coordinated a study of proactive disclosure principles and

practice in three South Asian countries.

1.2. Purpose of the study

In simple terms the purpose of the study is to make an assessment of the theory and

practice of proactive or voluntary disclosure of information in Dhaka South City

Corporation (DSCC) and develop practical recommendations for improving transparency

and timely disclosure of information.

1 Right to Information

2 Affiliated Network for Social Accountability – South Asia Region

Introduction

1.3. Scope of the study

The study focuses on the following areas of law and the extent to which they have been

implemented in the DSCC:

Proactive disclosure provisions contained in the constituting laws, rules,

regulating and bye-laws in relation to each City Corporation.

Provisions of law that require the City Corporation to give notices of its actions

or proposed actions to people through various means.

Provisions, if any, in the laws, rules and regulations relating to each City

Corporation, according to which committee meetings must be held in the open

so that people may attend, or if the minutes of such meetings are to be made

available to people proactively or on request.

Issues, such as: the laws, rules and regulations requiring the City Corporation to

appoint any point person such as a public relations officer for providing

information to visitors and legal requirements that the City Corporation

disseminate information through the mass media.

Applicability of the relevant RTI law to the City Corporation.

1.4 Methodology of the study

Provisions relating to information disclosure and transparency contained in the

constituting laws, rules, regulations and bye-laws of Dhaka South City Corporation were

reviewed, along with all other documents of relevance to governance in the Dhaka City

Corporation.

Relevant documents for the study were obtained from the City Corporation’s office. RTI

applications were filed for some necessary documents, report and policy papers.

Website contents were reviewed, and categories of website information are sorted,

which match (and do not match) the proactive disclosure requirements under the

constituting laws, rules, regulations and bye-laws applicable to the City Corporation, and

which match (and do not match) proactive disclosure requirements under the

applicable RTI Act.

The premises of the DSCC were visited to document the kinds of information displayed

through notice boards, posters, hoardings, billboards, wall paintings, cloth buntings or

flex banners.

The Corporation’s officials were interviewed to understand the use of mass media to

disseminate information to the general public. For the purpose, Public Relations Officer

(PRO), Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Tax Officer of Zone -2, and Administrative

Officer of Zone – 5 were interviewed.

Introduction

A survey was conducted in three of the five zones of the DSCC, which include Zone – 2,

Zone – 3, and Zone – 5. A semi-structured questionnaire was prepared for the survey. 50

persons were interviewed at the household level. The survey respondents included

students, housewives and professionals.

The researchers did not deliberately use any personal relation to get information, rather

approached the officials and sections of the City Corporation on citizen’s rights ground

and for research purpose.

Schedule of visit to the DSCC premises:

Date Time Who visited Who met / place

11 Oct 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and Associate Researcher

Public Relations Officer (PRO)

22 Oct 2012 Morning Researcher Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO)

1 Nov 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and Associate Researcher

CPRO

18 Nov 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and a volunteer

Different wards of Zone -2 and Zone – 5 to find display/information boards of the DSCC

19 Nov 2012 Morning Researcher, and a volunteer

Tax Officer/ Zone Office – 2

20 Nov 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and a volunteer

Administrative Officer/ Zone Office – 5

4 Dec 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and Associate Researcher

CPRO/ notice boards

Reasons for selection of DSCC As a result of the Local Government (City Corporation) Amendment Act (2011), Dhaka

now has two city corporations – i) Dhaka South City Corporation, and ii) Dhaka North

City Corporation. Dhaka South City Corporation has a website with limited information

on what they are required to do as per the Ordinance. With little over one year into its

formation, Dhaka North City Corporation has not built a website for disseminating public

information. In addition, it has also not got its permanent building as yet. This will

remain a limitation to searching of information, and seeking relevant documents for the

study.

Since Dhaka North City Corporation is yet to be furnished with necessary facilities and

information, and the study focused on Dhaka South City Corporation, which is in fact in

its previous location (known as Dhaka City Corporation) with their continuous programs.

2. Background

2.1. Basic facts about Dhaka

Corporation under study: Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)

Dhaka currently hosts a population of approximately 14-16 million (GOB/BBS 2010,

World Bank 2007). So, the DSCC has a population of 7-8 million approximately.

In recent studies conducted by the World Bank (2007) and UN-HABITAT (2008) Dhaka

has been identified as the fastest growing mega city in the world. With an annual

population growth rate of 4.4 percent it has been projected that by 2020 Dhaka would

become the third largest mega city. Like most other fast growing mega cities in

developing countries, Dhaka's rapid population is attributed to rural in-migration and

associated with the resultant expansion of slums and the growth of the urban informal

economy. It has been estimated that 300,000 to 400,000 migrants come to Dhaka from

different parts of Bangladesh every year, drawn by the relatively higher wages and job

opportunities that the national capital offers.

The UN-HABITAT's State of Cities 2010-11 (UN-HABITAT, 2011) report notes that Dhaka

is a highly divided city where space is allocated and used for the benefit of a privileged

few, while marginalizing the rest of the population from access to key social amenities.

2.2 Review of relevant documents to understand overall

governance situation of the Corporation

Municipal autonomy is undermined when DCC is heavily regulated by the central

government, leaving little space to make and administer decisions at the local level. The

Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009 itself has paved the way for central

government’s interference in three key aspects. First, Section 42 (1) of the Local

Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009 empowers the central government to

withdraw any institution or activity to its control from the purview of City Corporation.

Second, the authority to appoint the Chief Executive Officer of the City Corporation rests

with the government and his/her withdrawal from the Corporation has been made

procedurally very difficult (Section 62 of City Corporation Act, 2009). Third, central

government has the power to make any changes to the Corporations’ budget (Section

76(3)). Furthermore, the Central government’s authority supersedes over all other

delegated institutions, as it has the provision to abolish the formation of any City

Corporation (Section 108).

Applying this authority, the government has on November 29, 2011, abolished the DCC

and split it into two parts – DCC North and DCC South by passing the Local Government

(City Corporation) (Amendment) Bill 2011.

Background

The Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009 stipulates that the City Corporations

could invite Heads of different agencies in the Corporation’s meetings; but they are not

obliged to attend the meetings. DCC’s immediate past Mayor Mr. Sadek Hossain Khoka,

in an interview with the authors, said that the legal provision of participation of Heads of

different agencies is quite superficial in practice (IGS 2012).

The Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009 allows every City Corporation

including the DCC to undertake any development plan and its implementation under the

approval of the Government’s Local Government Division. In practice, the subjection of

the DCC to the purview of the Local Government Division leaves limited space for

autonomy to the DCC. Third schedule of the Act lists 28 types of activity of the

Corporation; but little scope exists for the Corporation to undertake any major step that

may impact the lives of city dwellers in a greater way. Central government agencies are

mainly responsible for major urban services. Meanwhile, local people see the elected

representatives of the municipal Corporation as the designated authority to meet their

needs although they do not have the statutory power to do so.

On the back of weak formal governance, an informal governance structure has been

active in providing urban services and securing livelihoods, especially for the poor and

excluded in the city. This informal governance structure mediates with the formal one

and imposes an unofficial system of charges and/or bribes on those aiming to secure a

livelihood in the city from garments workers, to hawkers and rickshaw pullers. Hawkers,

for instance, have become organized under informal leadership and wield their political

influence through participation in political demonstrations in streets and neighborhoods.

The informal governance structure is largely defined by patron-client relations.

Clientelistic relationships have personalized the nature of politics in the city. A personal

contact with politicians or officials is often a more successful solution to grievance

resolution than formal complaint channels, particularly in service delivery (Banks 2006

cited in IGS 2012).

Both horizontal and vertical structures of patron-clientelism are witnessed in the city

governance. In horizontal patron-clientelism, the ruling party creates loyalties and

allegiances and colludes with key state actors and organizations. This patron-clientelism

is predominantly evident in urban administration where all kinds of appointments,

promotions and transfers are often decided based on political party affiliation.

The vertical patron-client relationship depicts that followers of the party are rewarded

based on their loyalty to the immediate party leaders. Entrance into his relationship

which spreads downwards in a chain of neta-karmi3 (leader-follower) relationships, is

determined by kinship and personalized ties (Panday and Jamil 2010 cited in IGS 2012).

3 Leader-activist

Background

The relationship produces mastaans4 who collect extortion and mobilize a vote bank for

the collection, and promotion within party hierarchy. Their role has grown up as the

formal institutions fail to deliver.

Weak institutions provide the space for informal actors to deliver services through

patron-client relations. When state institutions exclude the poor from services and fail

to provide entitlements to the middle class such as right to security, the masttans fill the

institutional gap between the state and the citizens. Access of citizens to this informal

governance is highly expensive.

2.3 Brief history of the Corporation:

1840 Committee of Improvement existed in Dhaka as early as 1823. Dhaka

Committee was formed in 1840.

1864 Dhaka Municipality was established on the 1st August, 1864 with the

introduction of District Municipal Improvement Act (Act III B.C. of 1864). Lt.

Governor had power to appoint municipal Commissioners from among the

inhabitants and their number was not to be less than seven. 1884 The Act of 1884 recognized for the first time the elective principle in

unambiguous term. The first elected Chairman was Mr. Ananda Chandra Roy

and the first elected Vice-Chairman was Mr. Khawaja Amirullah. 1922 Bengal Municipal Act of 1922 extended franchise to women also, who had so

far been denied this right. 1947 Dhaka became the provincial capital of the then East Pakistan in 1947.

1947 Municipal Committee was superseded by the Govt. on the 19th of November,

1947 for collection of taxes development activities etc. Supersession was

extended by annual orders on the score of non-preparation of electoral rolls,

until 1953. 1953 In December, 1953, the elected Chairman took over his office, and again in

August, 1959, Municipality was superseded. 1960 The Municipal Administration Ordinance of 1960 repealed all previous

municipal laws and provided that the chairmen would be an official member

appointed by and holding office during the pleasure of the Govt. 1960 The Government in 1960 divided the city area into 25 Unions, which were later

enhanced by 30 Unions in 1964.

1977 City area was divided into 50 wards and election of Ward Commissioners was

held with the introduction of Pourashava Ordinance, 1977.

1977 Ward Commissioners elected one of their members as the Chairman of the

Municipality.

4 Muscle-powered people

Background

1978 In 1978, Dhaka Municipality was awarded the status of Corporation and the

existing Chairman became the Mayor of the Corporation.

1982 Municipal Corporation was superseded by the promulgation of Martial law in

March, 1982.

1982 Two adjacent municipalities, namely Mirpur and Gulshan Municipalities were

merged with Dhaka Municipality in 1982. As a result the number of wards

increased to 56. Later, number of wards was increased to 75 and

Administrators/Mayors were appointed by the Govt. till 1994

1977 Dhaka Municipal Corporation Ordinance, 1983 repealed the application of

Pourashava Ordinance, 1977.

1990 In 1990, Dhaka Municipal Corporation was renamed as Dhaka City Corporation.

1993 In 1993, the Government, with a view to democratize the City Corporation,

made drastic amendments and made provision for the Mayor and the

Commissioners to be directly elected.

1994 The election of the Corporation was held on January, 1994 and Mr.

Mohammad Hanif became the first elected Mayor and Md. Sadeque Hossain

Khoka was the second elected Mayor of Dhaka.

2011 The Local Govt. (City Corporation) Amendment Act (2011), Dhaka City

Corporation has divided as Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka

North City Corporation (DNCC) on 04.12.2011.

2.4 Laws applicable to Dhaka South City Corporation

(DSCC)

The Local Government (City Corporation) Amendment Act 2011 is shown on the website,

but its content is missing. However, The Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009

remains the basis of the functions of the Corporation.

Here are some basic parts of the act: The Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009 provides for several sections on taxes.

Sections 83 through 90 of the law deal with the notification, imposition, schedule,

instruction, liability, collection, and assessment of taxes and levies. Section 83 provides

that all taxes, sub-taxes, rates, tolls and fees fixed by the Corporation need to be notified

through government gazette notification, and if not otherwise instructed by the

government, those have to be pre-disclosed (proactively). Section 86 states that the

Corporation has to impose taxes on an individual or goods, it has to notify and call for

necessary information including documents, records or those goods in the first place.

Section 89 provides that Corporation can impose taxes on a job or grants, but in such

case, the Corporation has to notify provider or employer of that job or grants

beforehand for the due taxes.

Background

However, as regards disclosure of information, the Local Government (City Corporation)

Act, 2009 provides that:

The Corporation will prepare reports on its administrative and development

activities in prescribed format of government, and will submit the same with the

30th September of next fiscal year (Section 43).

The Corporation will publish a document titled “Citizen Charter” with description

on the services to citizens, conditions for the services, timeline of the services

etc. (Section 44).

The Corporation will, in its first meeting of the year in the immediate next to it,

will form standing committees on the following areas. The committees will

function for period of 2 years and 6 months, and after this period, new

committees will be formed (Section 50).

It says if any meeting is not held exclusively as unanimously decided by the

majority of the councilors, such meeting will remain open for the people

(Section 54(1)).

Any citizen will have right to information regarding Corporation in the defined

system. However, sub-section 2 says that Corporation, through gazette

notification, can classify any records or documents to the interest of the people

and of the administrative security; that citizens will lose their right to access

those classified records or documents; and that Corporation can deny any such

requests from the citizens. It further says that the government can instruct

Corporation to publish list of information deliverable to the citizens (Section

110).

The Corporation can make regulations regarding information disclosure process

etc. (Section 110).

2.5 Structure and functions of the corporation

2.5.1 Wards: There are 56 wards5 under Dhaka South City Corporation.

2.5.2 Administration of the Corporation Enactment of the Local Government (City Corporation)(Amendment) Act, 2011 replaced

some of the sections of the previous Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009

regarding the administration of the divided City Corporations. Section 4(1) of the act

says if a new Corporation is formed under this act, the government will appoint a

competent person or first class public official as its administrator.

5 Ward numbers 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60,

61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89,

90, 91 and 92.

Background

As regards the functions of the Mayor and Councilors, the act stipulates in section 6(2)

that when this act divides an existing City Corporation, the structure of that City

Corporation will be defunct, and the Mayor and the Councilors will lose their positions.

2.6 The functions of the corporation

The Local Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Act, 2011 only amends few of

the sections of the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009. The law of 2009

broadly specifies the standing committees of the corporation (Section 50). However, the

website categories the DSCC’s function as below:

Public Health

Sanitation

Removal and disposal of refuse

Unsanitary buildings

Latrines and urinals

Birth, death and marriage registration

Infectious diseases

Health and maternity centers

Public health

Hospital and dispensaries

Medical aid and relief

Public Safety Civil defense

Floods

Famine

Dangerous and offensive articles

Burial and burning places

Social welfare

Social welfare

Building Control

Culture

Library

Fairs and shows

Development

Development plans

Community development project

Commercial schemes

Health development project

Slum development

Education

Education

Compulsory education

General Provision about education.

Streets

Public streets

Streets

General provision about streets

Encroachment

Streets lighting

Streets watering

Traffic control

Public vehicles

Trees, Parks, Gardens and Forests

Arboriculture

Gardens

Open Spaces

Forests

Nuisances pertaining to tree

Urban Planning

Master plan

Ward Base GIS Base Map & Database

Site development schemes

Execution of site development

Background

2.7 The powers of the corporation in relation to its

duties and functions

According to the Local Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Act, 2011, the

functions of the DSCC are currently administered by the public officials in both the

central and zonal offices. The Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009 broadly

specifies the functions (Section 50), and stipulates that further rules and regulations will

be made, but no such rules and regulations could be found on the functions of the

Corporation.

2.8 Finances

The sources of funding for DSCC comprise internal revenue collection, central

government grants, development grants, project development loans and other loans

(Dhaka City Corporation, Budget 2011-2012).

Internal Revenue Collection:

The Power to levy and collect revenues is contained in the Dhaka City Corporation

Ordinance (1983). The revenues are in the form of taxes, rates and fees whose amounts

are established in their respective Model Tax Schedules.

Taxes and Rates (collectively known as the Holding Tax)

This levy applicable to all properties (domestic, commercial, industrial, and institutional).

Is a major source of municipal revenue and is composed of:

Land and Buildings Assessment (property tax with a ceiling of 7% on the balance

of the annual rental value)

Tank and low-lying areas scheme

Water Supply and Drainage

Water Supply

Private sources of water supply

Drainage schemes

Bathing and washing places

Dhobi ghats & washer men

Public water courses

Public ferries

Public fisheries

Management and control of animals

Animals husbandry

Stray animals

Animal hones and farms

Registration of sale of cattle

Livestock improvement

Dangerous animals

Cattle show, zoos etc.

Disposal of carcasses

Control of foods and drinks

Bye laws

Milk supply

Public markets

Private markets

Slaughter house.

Background

Lighting Rate (street lighting, rate set a maximum of 3%)

Conservancy Rate (a rate for provision of solid waste collection and disposal

services, also with a ceiling of 7%)

Service Elements of Holding Tax:

These are charged for all properties in areas where each service is provided, irrespective

of whether or not the individual properly owner avails himself of the service, including:

The Fixed Property Transfer Tax (levied by central government, 2% of the declared

properly value is remitted to the City Corporation).

The Compensation Grant (grant from central government to compensate

municipalities for the abolition in 1985 of their powers to levy import and export

taxes transmitting their territories).

The Trades and Profession License Tax (an annual fixed amount paid by

tradesmen and professionals as a license fee to conduct their business activities).

An Entertainment Tax (10-15% of the entrance ticket value for cinemas, theaters,

exhibitions, etc).

Rickshaw License (an annual fee)

Income from Residential, Market and Other Properties (from advance payments

and annual rentals paid by lessees for properly developed by the municipalities

22).

Road Excavation Fees (charged for utilities which lay pipes and cables under

roads.

Other (generating minimal revenues).

Development Grants:

These are equity contributions from central government towards capital project

implementation costs. Typically, these are made for the funding of no cost or indirect

cost recovery programs such as roads, flood protection and drainage, whether from

internally generated central government revenues or from external loan/grant proceeds.

Project Development Loans:

For cost-recovery projects, such as land development, sanitation and solid waste

management, the central government extends external loan proceeds under subsidiary

loan agreements.

Other Loans:

Dhaka City Corporation has access to domestic loan- term loans from government-

owned banks.

Background

2.9 Budgetary support for the City Corporation

Municipal autonomy is undermined when DCC is heavily regulated by the central

government, leaving little space to make and administer decisions at the local level. The

Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009 itself has paved the way for central

government's interference (Section 42(1), Section 62, Section 76 (3), and Section 108 for

example).

DCC lacks financial autonomy in the discharge of its statutory functions. The Corporation

depends on the central government for its financial and human resources. The

Corporation planned to mobilize only 32.57 percent revenue by itself in the fiscal year

2011-12. The rest of the total budget (67.43 percent) for the same year will come from

the Government's grants and foreign aided projects or through public-private

partnership. This financial dependency gives the central government further leverage to

control the Corporation (IGS 2012).

The net release of government's grants is less than half of what is allocated in the

budget. The revised budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 reveals that the proposed grant

of BDT 500 million allocated in the previous year's budget was not given to the

Corporation. In addition, the net release of general grants and that of projects funds was

40.75 percent and 52.69 percent respectively, in the revised budget of fiscal year 2010-

11.

Budgeted expenditures and receipts for the last 3 financial years:

Year Budgeted expenditure

Receipts (Tk)

2011-12 2715,00,00,000.00 2715,00,00,000.00

2010-11 774,00,00,000.00 739,60,76,749.08

2009-20 673,38,00,000.00 603,33,37,545.53

Requirements under law

3. Principles of openness and

transparency as required by the law

The Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009 contains several sections requiring

publishing and publicizing the documents and information to the citizens. However, at

the same time, there are sections and sub-sections in the same law, which allow the

government to classify information.

3.1 Guidelines on records management, access to

information or proactive disclosure of information

The Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009:

The law has provisions for disclosure of information on the one hand, and for

classifying and restricting information on the other. Section 110 deals with the

citizens’ right to information in the following manner:

Any citizen will have right to information regarding Corporation in the defined

system.

Sub-section 2 says that the Corporation, through gazette notification, can

classify any records or documents in the interest of the people and of the

administrative security; that citizens will lose their right to access those

classified records or documents; and that the Corporation can deny any such

requests from the citizens.

It further says that the government can instruct Corporation to publish list of

information deliverable to the citizens.

Right to Information Act, 2009: Under Section 6:

Every authority shall publish and publicize all information pertaining to any

decision taken, proceeding or activity executed or proposed by indexing them

in such a manner as may easily be accessible to the citizens.

In publishing and publicizing information under sub-section (1), no authority

shall conceal any information or limit its easy access.

Every authority shall publish a report every year which shall contain the

following information, namely:—

particulars of its organizational structure, activities, responsibility of the

officers and employees, or description and process of decision making;

lists of all laws, Acts, Ordinance, rules, regulations, notifications,

directives, manuals, etc. of the authority including the classification of all

information lying with the authority;

Requirements under law

description of the terms and conditions under which a citizen may get

services from the authorities in obtaining any license, permit, grant,

consent, approval or other benefits and of such conditions that require

the authority to make transactions or enter into agreements with him;

particulars of the facilities ensuring right to information of the citizens,

and the full name, designation, address, and, in cases where applicable,

fax number and e-mail address of the assigned officer.

If the authority frames any policy or takes any important decision, it shall publish

all such policies and decisions and shall, if necessary, explain the reasons and

causes in support of such policies and decisions.

The report prepared by authority under this section shall be made available free

of charge for public information and its copies shall be stocked for sale at

nominal price.

All the publications made by the authority shall be made available to the public

at reasonable price.

The authority shall publish and publicize the matters of public interest through

press note or through any other means.

The Information Commission shall, by regulations, frame instructions to be

followed by the authority for publishing, publicizing and obtaining information

and all the authority shall follow them.

3.1 Legal provisions governing proactive disclosure

The Local Government (City Corporation)(Amendment) Act (2011) does not provide

details of proactive disclosure provisions, but replaces and revises some of the sections

of the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009. Some of the sections of the 2009

law have proactive disclosure obligations, but no rules or regulations thereof were made

so far.

Section 43 of the law deals with publication of report on administration and

development activities. It says that the Corporation will prepare reports on its

administrative and development activities in prescribed format of government, and will

submit the same with the 30th September of next fiscal year.

Section 44 of the law deals with the citizen charter, and states the following.

The Corporation will publish a document titled “Citizen Charter” with description

on the services to citizens, conditions for the services, timeline of the services etc.

This charter will be updated once in a year.

The Corporation can make guidelines regarding an ideal citizen charter.

The Corporation can bring necessary changes and additions in the charter subject

to the notification to the government and the commission.

Requirements under law

The charter will include accurate and clear description of the services, charges of

such services, eligibility of receiving and demanding services and the processes

thereof, specific timeline of the services, responsibilities, assurance of services to

the citizens, disposal of complaints related to services, and consequences of

violations of the promises.

Section 54(1) tells about people’s participation in the meeting. It says if any meeting is

not held exclusively as unanimously decided by the majority of the councilors, such

meeting will remain open for the people.

Section 59 of the law provides that all agreements signed by or in favor of City

Corporation will be finalized after approval by the meeting of the Corporation, and such

agreements will be considered as accomplished in the name of Corporation.

Section 62 of the law provides that (the Corporation will) preserve all documents in

proper manner. It further says the Corporation will prepare reports and statements, and

publish them. The Corporation will disclose information as the government asks for,

from time to time.

Section 110 deals with the citizens’ right to information in the following manner:

Any citizen has the right to information regarding the Corporation

However, sub-section 2 says that Corporation, through gazette notification,

can classify any records or documents in the interest of the people and of

administrative security; that citizens will lose their right to access those

classified records or documents; and that Corporation can deny any such

requests from the citizens.

It further says that the government can instruct the Corporation to publish a

list of information deliverable to the citizens.

The Corporation can make regulations regarding information disclosure

process etc.

3.2 Legal provisions governing committee meetings

Section 50 deals with the standing committees of the Corporation as saying that the

Corporation will, in its first meeting of the year, form standing committees on the

following areas. The committees will function for period of 2 years and 6 months, and

after this period, new committees will be formed. The committees are as follow:

Finance and Establishment

Waste management

Education, health, family planning and sanitation

Town planning and improvement

Requirements under law

Audit and accounts

Town infrastructure development and preservation

Water and electricity

Social welfare and community center

Environment improvement

Sports and culture

Birth and death registration

Communication

Supervision, monitoring and control of market prices

Disaster management

Section 49(3) deals with the meeting of the Corporation as saying that the Corporation

on any working day in the first week of a month will hold a meeting and fix a date for the

next meeting.

Section 54(1) tells about people’s participation in the meeting. It says if any meeting is

not held exclusively as unanimously decided by the majority of the councilors, such

meeting will remain open for the people.

3.3 Legal provisions governing disclosure of budgets &

accounts

Section 77 stipulates the accounts of the Corporation. Sub-section (1) says the

Corporation has to preserve the statements of income and expenditure in proper

manner. Sub-section (2) says the Corporation will prepare their annual accounts

statement at the end of each year, and will submit the same by December 31st to the

commission. The commission will add their reviews and comments to it, and send the

same to the government. Sub-section (2) says the annual accounts statement has to be

hung in an open space for the citizens, and the Corporation will consider all objections

and suggestions on it.

Faced with enquiries about the legal provisions of the City Corporation about budget

preparation process, participation of and exchanges with the citizens, and disclosing it to

the citizens, the concerned Corporation officials at both the central and zonal offices

remain silent and hesitant. Beyond their knowledge of what is said in their own laws,

they referred to their practices and the expectations of the concerned ministry. They

kept repeating their point that the ministry requires the budget to be submitted in a

prescribed format to only the ministry. They think it’s not the prerogative of the citizens

to look into the budget, let alone their participation in the preparation process.

However, they gave a written answer that Dhaka South City Corporation discloses its

budget to the citizens through press conference. Each year in the month of

February/March, the accounts department asks the heads of the departments of the

Requirements under law

Corporation to submit their budgets according to the budget heads. The concerned

departments submit their budgets to the accounts department. The accounts

department compiles the budgets and submits to the budget management committee

for scrutiny. The draft budgets are reviewed meticulously in a meeting chaired by the

Chief Executive Officer and attended by the Secretary, Chief Engineer, Chief Revenue

Officer, Chief Sanitation Officer, Chief Health Officer, and Chief Accounts Officer. A

proposed budget is sent to the Local Government Division, Ministry of LGRD. With their

reviews and comments, the final budget is prepared.

The written answer further says that during the preparation of the 2012-2013 fiscal

budget, the Administrator of the DSCC held exchange meetings with the people in the

five zones and assessed the local demands, which are reflected in the budget.

The researcher did not get a copy of the budget without filing of an RTI application to

the Corporation.

The concerned officials were found surprised and irritated initially at the queries and

request for audit statements. They took this request as doubting the Corporation’s

activities, and answered that there are number of government authorities to whom they

are accountable. The authorized audit firms make yearly audits into the accounts of the

Corporation by the December after the ending of each financial year, and they submit

the same to the ministry.

However, the research team avoided further arguments with the concerned officials,

since the mindset of the officials and the position of the Corporation over this particular

issue is already revealed. They still prefer the secretary and only remain loyal to the

higher-ups, not to the citizens.

The interviewed officials did not find any link of the audited statements with the interest

of the citizens, and so, finds the request as unusual. However, they supplied a couple of

pages from the audit report.

3.4 Applicability of the relevant RTI law to the city

corporation

RTI law applicable to the Corporation The People’s Republic of Bangladesh (GPRB) has enacted the Right to Information Act,

2009 with effect from 1 July 2009 in order to make provisions for ensuring free flow of

information and people’s right to information; whereas freedom of thought, conscience

and speech is recognized in the Constitution of GPRB as one of the fundamental rights

and right to information is an inalienable part of freedom of thought, conscience and

speech; and whereas all powers of the Republic belong to the people, and it is necessary

to ensure right to information for the empowerment of the people; and whereas if the

right to information of the people is ensured, the transparency and accountability of the

Requirements under law

public, autonomous and statutory organizations and of other private institutions

constituted or run by government or foreign financing shall increase, corruption of the

same shall decrease and good governance of the same shall be established; and whereas

it is expedient and necessary to make provisions for ensuring transparency and

accountability in all public, autonomous and statutory organizations and in other private

institutions constituted or run by government or foreign financing. [GPRB, Information

Commission Bangladesh, 2010, The Right to Information Act, 2009, Dhaka]

The type of information that the Corporation must proactively

disclose under the said RTI laws Section 6 of the RTI Act 2009 states publication of information as saying:

1. Every authority shall publish and publicize all information pertaining to any

decision taken, proceeding or activity executed or proposed by indexing

them in such a manner as may easily be accessible to the citizens.

2. In publishing and publicizing information under sub-section (1), no authority

shall conceal any information or limit its easy access.

3. Every authority shall publish a report every year which shall contain the

following information, namely:—

4. particulars of its organizational structure, activities, responsibility of the

officers and employees, or description and process of decision making;

5. lists of all laws, Acts, Ordinance, rules, regulations, notifications, directives,

manuals, etc. of the authority including the classification of all information

lying with the authority;

6. description of the terms and conditions under which a citizen may get

services from the authorities in obtaining any license, permit, grant, consent,

approval or other benefits and of such conditions that require the authority

to make transactions or enter into agreements with him;

7. particulars of the facilities ensuring right to information of the citizens, and

the full name, designation, address, and, in cases where applicable, fax

number and e-mail address of the assigned officer.

8. If the authority frames any policy or takes any important decision, it shall

publish all such policies and decisions and shall, if necessary, explain the

reasons and causes in support of such policies and decisions.

9. The report prepared by authority under this section shall be made available

free of charge for public information and its copies shall be stocked for sale

at nominal price.

10. All the publications made by the authority shall be made available to the

public at reasonable price.

11. The authority shall publish and publicize the matters of public interest

through press note or through any other means.

12. The Information Commission shall, by regulations, frame instructions to be

followed by the authority for publishing, publicizing and obtaining

information and all the authorities shall follow them.

Requirements under law

3.5 Manner or medium through which the Corporation

must disclose such information

Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009:

Under Section 44, the Corporation will publish a citizen’s charter, which will include

accurate and clear description of the services, charges of such services, eligibility of

receiving and demanding services and the processes thereof, specific timeline of the

services, responsibilities on the services to the citizens, assurance of services to the

citizens, disposal of complaints related to services, and consequences of violations of the

promises.

Section 91 of the same law deals with reports on annual operations of the Corporation.

Sub-section (1) says the Corporation as per the date fixed by the government will submit

a detailed report of its implement activities annually to the government and the

commission. Sub-section (2) says the Corporation will keep copies of the reports in the

Corporation office for sale.

Section 45 provides that:

The Corporation will ensure use of advanced information and communication

technology.

Through use of information and communication technology, the Corporation will

arrange for descriptions to the citizens on all public works, except for those

stated in the citizen charter.

Section 77 stipulates the accounts of the Corporation. Sub-section (1) says the

Corporation has to preserve the statements of income and expenditure in proper

manner. Sub-section (2) says the Corporation will prepare their annual accounts

statement at the end of each year, and will submit the same by December 31st to the

commission. The commission will add their reviews and comments to it, and send the

same to the government. Sub-section (2) says the annual accounts statement has to be

hung in an open space for the citizens, and the Corporation will consider the all

objections and suggestions on it.

Section 57 deals with meeting resolutions saying:

1. The resolutions of the Corporation and different committees will include the

names of the attending councilors, and in the next meeting with necessary

amendments, if any, the same will be approved, and will be preserved in

binding book (register).

2. The resolutions after 14 days of approval will be sent to the Commission and

the Government.

Requirements under law

3. Each resolution will be sent to the councilors on time, and will be published

on the website.

4. The copies of these resolutions can be obtained with due fees.

4. Openness and transparency as

observed in practice: findings of the

survey

Let alone the bye-laws, rules and regulations, the main law of the City Corporation is not

available on the City Corporation website. The concerned City Corporation officials give

the impression that the City Corporation itself does not have anything to do with the laws,

bye-laws or any rules or regulations, rather it is the Local Government and Rural

Development Ministry that treats the Corporation as a branch office, and directs what to

do. It refers to a situation that the City Corporation neither feels or nor functions as an

autonomous authority.

However, the City Corporation has appointed a point person, a public relations officer,

for providing information to visitors.

4.1. Web content analysis

Information displayed on the DSCC website

The website6 of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is in English.

The Local Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Act 2011 is shown on the

website, but its content is missing. The Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009,

which is seen as the base law for City Corporation is not posted on the website, even the

law is not available on the website of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural

Government.

The categories of information provided on the Corporation’s website are as follow:

History of Dhaka and Dhaka City Corporation.

The constitution and standing committees: Updates according to the recent

2009 law are not available on the website. Rather, as per the ordinance (Dhaka

City Corporation Ordinance 1983, now repealed) quoted by the CPRO, it says,

the Corporation shall, by regulation, determine the functions of Standing

Committee. Therefore, the Standing Committees discharge functions basically

on an ad-hoc basis depending on the perception of the members about the

functions of the Standing Committee. No regulations regarding the functions

and responsibilities of the standing committees are made available.

There are address and phone numbers of the DSCC executives on the website.

6 www.dhakacity.org

Findings of the survey

There is a section on frequently asked questions. The section contains some

questions on tax, license, VAT, rebate, payment procedures etc., but it does

not provide answers, and refers to the section of e-Governance on the website,

which is not furnished as yet.

There are details on tax on professions, trades and callings. It includes liability

on account of obtaining license to carry on profession, trade and calling,

manner of filing application for license, particulars of license, conditions for

obtaining trade license, and renewal of trade license.

Ward councilors: Details on the functions and responsibilities are not made

available anywhere. However, the website sources say, the Corporation shall,

by regulation, determine the functions of standing committees. Therefore, the

standing committees discharge functions basically on an ad-hoc basis

depending on the perception of the members about the functions of the

standing committee.

The website contains information on house rent for different zones. But, no

details are given on how which department of the Corporation will look after

application of the prescribed rents, and how the city dwellers will

communicate regarding these. However, while asked about the application of

these house rents and complaint resolution, the concerned officials refer to the

Deputy Commissioner’s office of Dhaka.

The website refers to the Dhaka City Corporation Ordinance, 1983 and the City

Corporation (Taxation) Rules, 1986. There are short descriptions on holding tax

assessment, examples of tax assessment, payment of tax, mutation rules,

mutation procedures, required documents for mutation, and notice of transfer

of title. This section also includes two sub-sections, namely, tax on

advertisement, and maintenance of a list of persons taxed. However, the

information regarding tax on advertisement is not complete, and how the tax

will be determined is not described.

There is a section on building control, which refers to 1983 ordinance as saying

the Corporation may take the necessary steps itself and the cost incurred

thereon by the Corporation shall be deemed to be tax levied on the owner or

occupier of the building under this Ordinance. However, the Government has

recently decided that any structure having 6 floors and above should get

permitted by the Dhaka City Corporation along with RAJUK, DOE, DWASA, Civil

Aviation, Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution, DCC Ward Commissioners, Fire

Service.

Information on the bus terminals, routes, number and name of buses for

different destinations are provided.

The website provides information that the Corporation is responsible for

beautification of city, and also provides a list of parks under the Corporation.

The website tells that there are two health supervisor (in each zone) working to

prohibit the sale of adulterated food in hotel/restaurant. It further says that

during their visit they collect sample food from the buyer/supplier and market

Findings of the survey

and send these to the organization's laboratory for the chemical testing. If any

adulterated or expired food is found from the test, the corresponding institute

can be charged under the "Bangladesh Pure Food Rules 1967 and Bangladesh

Pure Food Ordinance".

The website gives information on the procedure of marriage separation, and re-

marriage, and the key contact persons in this regard.

It provides the information on the procedures and rates for road cutting.

It has information on solid waste management, collection, disposal and recycling.

It provides information on wheel tax7 including the laws and bye-laws controlling

it.

It gives information on its departments with functions in broad head and key

contact person. The departments include Accounts, Conservancy, Engineering,

Establishment, Estate, Health, Information Technology, Internal Audit, Law,

Public Relation, Revenue, Slum Development, and Social Welfare, Transport, and

Urban Planning.

The Social Welfare services includes, as the site states, body building clubs,

health care centers, community centers, grave yards, cultural centers, public

library, museum, school/college, singing learning center, and shoshan ghat

(crematory ground).

Only social welfare section provides information on the location, ward, zone,

fees, contact person etc. for the social welfare services.

All these information are basically on what they are supposed to do as a City Corporation,

and do not reflect the current activities of the City Corporation, and do not include what

projects they are currently implementing.

The RTI law requires that every authority publish a report every year which shall contain the

information, namely, particulars of its organizational structure, activities, responsibility of

the officers and employees, or description and process of decision making; lists of all laws,

Acts, Ordinance, rules, regulations, notifications, directives, manuals, etc. of the authority

including the classification of all information lying with the authority; description of the

terms and conditions under which a citizen may get services from the authorities in

obtaining any license, permit, grant, consent, approval or other benefits and of such

conditions that require the authority to make transactions or enter into agreements with

him; particulars of the facilities ensuring right to information of the citizens, and the full

name, designation, address, and, in cases where applicable, fax number and e-mail address

of the assigned officer.

7 Three wheelers, such as, rickashaw, rickshaw van.

Findings of the survey

4.2. Categories of website information which do not

match the proactive disclosure requirements under

the constituting laws, rules, regulations and bye-

laws applicable to the City Corporation

The City Corporation act of 2009 requires the Corporation to publish their reports each

year on administrative and development works after the financial year and before the

30th September of the next financial year. However, no such reports are available on the

website. Not only were the reports not printed and displayed for citizens, such reports

could not even be obtained from the public relations department of the Corporation.

The same law requires that the Corporation publish a citizen charter, to include accurate

and clear description of the services, charges for such services, eligibility of receiving and

demanding services and the processes thereof, specific timeline of the services,

responsibilities on the services to the citizens, assurance of services to the citizens,

disposal of complaints related to services, and consequences of violations of the

promises. However, though such a charter is available on the website, it is not updated

as the legal provisions require it. Even one year after the City Corporation law of 2011

divided the Dhaka City Corporation into two, separate charters for the two are yet to be

written.

The same law requires that the meeting resolutions of the Corporation’s committees be

recorded and preserved. The resolutions have to be published on the website on a

regular basis and the citizens can get copies of the same with fees. However, the website

does not contain such information, and unfortunately, it was not provided to the

researcher even after requests to the concerned department.

The law of the Corporation requires that the Corporation record and publish all its

activities in a prescribed manner. However, the officials at the Corporation do not feel

that they are required to produce records or documents to the public on demand.

Astoundingly, the concerned officials seemed to have heard for the first time from the

researchers that their own laws require them to publish the documents and produce

them to the citizens.

The Corporation is required to prepare an accounts statement of its activities of a

financial year after end of the financial year and before the 31st of December of the next

financial year, and the same has to be hung in an open place for the citizens. In practice,

the Corporation does not show such statements to the citizens, and does not publish it

on its website.

The Corporation is required to publish annual reports detailing its activities, and display

the reports for sale to the citizens. Such reports are not published on the website, and

not produced to the citizens.

Findings of the survey

4.3 Categories of information which do not match

proactive disclosure requirements under the

applicable RTI Act

The RTI law requires every authority to publish and publicize all information pertaining

to any decision taken, proceeding or activity executed or proposed by indexing them in

such a manner as may easily be accessible to the citizens. In contrast to the requirement

by Corporation’s own law and the RTI law, the Corporation does not publish and

publicize its committee decisions, and annual activity reports.

The RTI law states that, in publishing and publicizing information under sub-section (1),

no authority shall conceal any information or limit its easy access. In practice, neither of

the documents of the Corporation is easily accessible. The concerned officials of the

Corporation, as observed by the researcher, only respect the media people to some

extent in response to information requests. The concerned officials tend to explain

unavailability of the documents and weaknesses in the functions of their activities

particularly pertaining to record keeping and documentation. In addition, they

frequently state that they provide all sorts of documents to the government offices

under the local government ministry, and are not supposed to disclose those to the

citizens.

The law further says if the authority frames any policy or takes any important decision, it

shall publish all such policies and decisions and shall, if necessary, explain the reasons

and causes in support of such policies and decisions. The report prepared by authority

under this section shall be made available free of charge for public information and its

copies shall be stocked for sale at nominal price. All the publications made by the

authority shall be made available to the public at reasonable price. The authority shall

publish and publicize the matters of public interest through press note or through any

other means. However, such provisions are not followed by the City Corporation.

The RTI law also requires that the Information Commission shall, by regulations, frame

instructions to be followed by the authority for publishing, publicizing and obtaining

information and all the authorities shall follow them. However, The Information

Commission made Right to Information (Information Disclosure and Publicizing)

Regulation for the authorities, but its compliance could not be known.

Let alone the bye-laws, rules and regulations, the main law of the City Corporation is not

available on the City Corporation website.

The Public Relations Officers and the Designated Officer (under RTI law) admit that it

would be better if they could disclose more information on the website. The DO himself

is the happy with the activities of the system analyst (for website management). In

Findings of the survey

addition, it was also known that they cannot always do what they need to. There are

some internal pull factors.

4.4 Assessment of proactive disclosure from office

premises

Schedule of visit to the DSCC premises:

Date Time Who visited Who met / place

11 Oct 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and Associate Researcher

Public Relations Officer (PRO)

22 Oct 2012 Morning Researcher Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO)

1 Nov 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and Associate Researcher

CPRO

18 Nov 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and a volunteer

Different wards of Zone -2 and Zone – 5 to find display/information boards of the DSCC

19 Nov 2012 Morning Researcher, and a volunteer

Tax Officer/ Zone Office – 2

20 Nov 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and a volunteer

Administrative Officer/ Zone Office – 5

4 Dec 2012 Afternoon Researcher, and Associate Researcher

CPRO/ notice boards

All the 5 officers we met have almost the same response regarding circulation of notices

on the notice board. In fact, the notice board of the Corporation’s main building was

found empty, while the two zonal offices have only a few old notices on their notice

boards. Regarding circulation of notices they said, “We have direct contact with the

clients (firms or individuals) to float tenders etc., and we invite media for press

conference for the same. The councilors avoid documenting and circulating notices or

entertaining complaints in writing. The works of the DSCC are rather done in informal

ways through personal contacts. Informal ways are better.” However, the process of

works through personal contacts is against rule of law and it hinders accountability and

transparency.

According to the survey, some citizens often hear the miking8 of the notices from the

Corporation, some have never heard anything like this. They never knew beforehand

8 Announcement of notices via microphone.

Findings of the survey

about any proposed or planned (project) activities of the City Corporation in their

concerned areas (wards). Some citizens sarcastically said, we do not know much of what

City Corporation is and what they do.

There is hardly any prior notice on the proposed or undertaken activities. [The

Corporation gets their notices published in the national dailies on regular basis. As a

matter of fact, citizens hardly read the advertisements or the notices of the Corporation.]

However, a couple of notices were found at the Zone Office – 2 and Zone Office – 5

under the DSCC. [Annex – 7]

Documents obtained without using RTI

Sample advertisements related to tax and rebate

Sample advertisements related to activities9 to be undertaken

Documents for which RTI had to be used

Audited accounts statement

List of standing committees10 and description of their functions

Budgets of the current and previous fiscal years

Documents and information not found even after filing of RTI

application

The Local Government (City Corporation) Act (relevant sections of the city

corporation law), which require the city corporation to publish and publicize its

documents, reports, decisions and information related to public interest.

Annual reports11

Budget and activity reports which the corporation receives in a year from its Zonal

Offices.

Demographic data segregated by wards

9 These advertisements include tender notice, cleaning, mosquito control etc.

10 The standing committees are dysfunctional at the moment since the division of the Dhaka City

Corporation in November 2011. No election to elect public representatives (Mayor and Councilors) is held

after the division of the corporation.

11 The Designated Officer at the DSCC put emphasis that the reports are prepared annually in the

government prescribed format, and submitted to the concerned division of the Ministry of Local

Government and Rural Development, and that these reports are not published for the citizens.

Findings of the survey

4.5 Assessment of proactive disclosure through mass

media

When the DSCC takes up any activity or project, they circulate it as advertisement in the

national newspaper. Some specimen advertisements are attached herewith. [Annex – 7]

When the citizens at the ward level were interviewed, 96% of the respondents claimed

that they do not know what activity or project is undertaken by the City Corporation.

This may possibly be linked to low newspaper readership as a percentage of the

population. Even though people read newspapers for current issues, they rarely see

advertisements in newspapers, except for few who look for job advertisements.

4.6 Observations of the research team

The concerned officials of the City Corporation feel hesitant and uncomfortable

when individuals ask for information about their works. The officials do not feel that

they have to account for their works to the common people.

The PRO and CPRO in our initial meeting (prior to filing of RTI application), did not

like the information requests and responded that they were already overburdened

and had to answer the queries from the Ministry and the Anti-Corruption

Commission.

The Tax Officer and the Administrative Officer did not talk about their annual activity

reports or financial reports, and said, “You need to show us permission from the

higher authority to disclose information to you. Or else, we will have problem.”

The concerned officials have hardly seen or had any idea on their own laws and by-

laws. When asked for delivery of information as directed in their own laws, and

when the relevant sections of the laws were shown to them, they seemed to have

seen those for the first time, and only then started entertaining the requests for

information.

We had to show them what sections of their own law tell what.

The Corporation officials rather support informal way of business, and try to avoid

rule of law. That is why they are reluctant to document their internal meetings and

decisions, at least to show them to the people.

Some citizens often hear the miking of the notices from the City Corporation, some

have never heard anything like this. They never knew beforehand about any

proposed or planned (project) activities of the City Corporation in their concerned

areas (wards). Some citizens sarcastically said, we do not know much of what City

Corporation is and what they do.

The laws of the City Corporation, though not stressing much on top-down

accountability towards the public, have provided for some space for people’s

inquiries and watch over their works. [The law provides for disclosure of annual

Findings of the survey

activities and audited accounts and any other information requested from the

citizens.]

The citizens as a whole are basically not that much interested in the activities of the

City Corporation, and try to make the officials accountable, and raise any voices in a

systematic way to the City Corporation on transparency issues.

4.7 Brief analysis of public opinion (from survey)

The interviewed people receive very often the notices of taxes, any changes in taxes or fines

through slips in their houses or through miking. The concerned officials of the City

Corporation claim that any projects or changes are circulated in newspaper and through

press release at regular basis. However, the responses of the interviewed citizens do not

match what the Corporation officials claim. Here are a summary of the opinions of the

interviewed citizens.

The City Corporation does not pay attention to or takes too much time to attend to

the individual problems of the citizens of different wards. Even when they do

respond, they do so late, and are far removed from the realities of the citizens.

Had the City Corporation heard from the citizens about their crises, they should have

developed better urban planning and delivered better services.

Citizens are not much aware of the functions and functionaries of the City

Corporation, and so, they are not engaged in the activities of the Corporation.

The City Corporation is not working as per expectations.

There is hardly any prior notice on the proposed or undertaken activities. [The

Corporation gets their notices published in the national dailies on regular basis. As a

matter of fact, citizens hardly read the advertisements or the notices of the

Corporation.]

Cleaning of roads and roadsides are of common concern of the citizens.

Citizens are mostly not sensitized about the activities of the City Corporation. As

regards the responsibilities of the City Corporation, citizens mostly want the City

Corporation only to keep their areas clean.

Citizens have a perception that corruption is a barrier to the proper accomplishment

of the activities of the City Corporation.

5. Summary of findings

The concerned officials in the Corporation’s offices treat queries as strange and

abnormal. There are certain sections in the Local Government (Dhaka City Corporation)

Act, 2009 that stipulate that the annual activity reports, audited reports, and updated

citizen charter etc. have to be kept in open place accessible to the citizens, but the DSCC

officials admitted not to have seen those.

The law requires the City Corporation to publish their reports on yearly basis and make

them available to the citizens. It also requires that the resolutions of the standing

committee meetings of the Corporation be written and made public. The law further

stipulates that all information regarding activities of the Corporation can be asked for by

citizens unless otherwise directed by the government through official notifications.

However, the officials do not feel that the DSCC is to account for its activities to the

citizens. They say they are only accountable to the Ministry of Local Government and

Rural Development (Local Government Division). They insist that they report to the

ministry in the way they want, and they submit the audited statements to them.

When the DSCC takes up any activity or project, they circulate it as advertisement in the

national newspaper. While the citizens at the ward level were interviewed, 96% of the

respondents say that they do not know what activity or project is undertaken by the City

Corporation. This can be linked to low newspaper readership levels. Even though people

read newspaper for current issues, they hard see advertisements on newspapers, except

for few who look for job advertisements.

The notice board of the Corporation was found empty. They are not interested in putting

the notices of what the Corporation is going to do and in which areas. While asked about

not putting notices of activities on the notice board, the concerned officials at the DSCC

could not give satisfactory answers. They tried to explain that there are people who are

connected and well aware of what the Corporation is going to do or will do. It refers to

the practice of activities by patron client relationship, not by rule of law. It refers to the

presence of politically connected people or syndicates who do not want the City

Corporation to put the notices of the activities on the notice except for the publication in

newspapers.

Though only 4% of the interviewed citizens admitted they come to know about the

activities of the City Corporation in their locality, these activities include maintenance of

electricity, gas or water connection or tax collection, not the development activities like

road construction etc.

The City Corporation has much preparation for circulating for levying taxes, tolls, cesses,

fines or for imposing any other financial burden on the people of the area or the duty to

publish electoral rolls. There are notices about these on the notice board. There is also

Summary of findings

dissemination on hand microphone in the locality. The City Corporation under separate

revenue zones organizes fairs for publicizing tax issues and collection of those.

24% respondents at the ward level said that they came to know about matters related to

taxes or finance through mass media (mostly newspaper ads), dissemination through

microphone, and notices served at home.

As per the information provided by the City Corporation officials, there is currently no

committee following dissolution of the offices with the enactment of the Local

Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Act, 2011 in November 2011, which

declares division of Dhaka City Corporation into two – Dhaka South City Corporation and

Dhaka North City Corporation. Under the new law, no committees are functional.

Even if the written RTI query sought last resolutions of the meetings of each standing

committees, there were lots of excuses and arguments from the concerned City

Corporation officials so as to avoid the requests. The RTI applicant only received the

order of the formation of the standing committees with details of the members and the

broad functions of the committees.

At the queries over legal provisions of the City Corporation about budget preparation

process, participation of and exchanges with the citizens, and disclosing it to the citizens,

the concerned Corporation officials at both the central and zonal offices remain silent

and hesitant.

The researcher did not get a copy of the budget without filing of an RTI application to

the Corporation.

The City Corporation does not have provision for and require the Ward Council to

prepare and propose a budget locally. The concerned Ward Councils receive amounts

from the heads of the fiscal budget of the Corporation.

According to the interview of the citizens, 96% of the respondents answered that they

know nothing of the budgets of the City Corporation. However, 4% said that they came

to know the total budget amounts of the Corporation through newspaper.

Even though the written answers from the Corporation claim that the Administrator had

pre-budget exchange meetings with the people in 5 zones to assess the local needs, the

responses from the citizens at the Ward level do not reflect any such initiative. While

giving opinion on what they expect from the City Corporation and how the Corporation

can be transparent, the citizens rather expressed concern over people’s unawareness

and lack of information of what the Corporation would do in the areas.

As regards the accounts statement sent from the zonal offices to the Corporation, the

written answer from the Corporation says that no such reports are received by the

accounts department.

Recommendations

6. Practical recommendations

Sl.

#

Specific recommendation for

improving transparency

Brief justification

1. The Corporation has to publish and

publicize its decisions and activities,

which are required by the Corporation’s

law as well as by RTI law.

The spirit of these laws is to ensure

transparency and accountability in the

activities of the Corporation.

Compliance of laws will ensure rule of

law, and promote citizens’ awareness.

2. The Corporation needs to open up its

laws, bye-laws and regulations to the

citizens.

Until the citizens come to know what

the Corporation is supposed to do and

how, they cannot watch over their

activities.

3. The Corporation needs to allow the

citizens to know about the committee

meetings and decisions.

If the citizens can check the meeting

resolutions and attend the meetings,

they will know what actions the

Corporation would take for their

locality.

4. The government has to withdraw the

provisions in the law, which classify and

restrict information, particularly

regarding budget and accounts.

While the citizens ask for information

regarding budget or accounts

statement, the concerned officials

refer to the particular sections of the

Corporation’s law.

5. The Information Commission needs to

ensure that the Corporation publishes

and publicize their reports and public

documents regularly.

There are provisions in the RTI law for

the authority to publish their

documents. So, the Commission can

influence them in this regard.

6. The ward council needs to organize open

meetings on development activities on a

regular basis in the locality.

People can easily participate in such

open meetings, and share their

concerns and opinions. People would

also know what the Corporation is

planning to do for them and how.

7. All information from the City Corporation

has to be updated on the website.

There are provisions in Corporation’s

own laws and in the RTI laws to

publish and publicize Corporation’s

information to the citizens.

Recommendations

8. The Corporation has to publish notices on

the notice board at both central and

grassroots offices.

Citizens need to know what activities

are planned for their locality.

9. The government needs to use TV media

to discuss and publicize the activities of

the Corporation by localities.

The citizens are more interested in TV

programs and news, and they will be

interested to see the

programs/briefings on the

development activities of the

Corporation in their locality.

References

Dhaka City Corporation, 2010. Budget, Financial Year 2010-2011.

Dhaka City Corporation, 2011. Budget, Financial Year 2011-2012.

Dhaka South City Corporation, 2012. Budget, Financial Year 2012-2013.

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (GPRB), Information Commission

Bangladesh, 2010. The Right to Information Act, 2009, Dhaka

GPRB/BBS, 2010. Report on Monitoring of Employment Survey 2009. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau

of Statistics, Government of Bangladesh.

Institute of Governance Studies (IGS), BRAC University, 2012. State of Cities: Urban Governance

in Dhaka.

UN-HABITAT, 2008. State of the World's Cities 2008-2009: Harmonious Cities.

UN-HABITAT, 2011. State of the World's Cities 2010-2011: Bridging the Urban Divide.

World Bank, 2007. Dhaka Improving Living Conditions for the Urban Poor. Bangladesh

Development Series 17.

References

Annex 1 Questionnaire for citizens

Study on Proactive Disclosure of Dhaka South City Corporation

RIB with CHRI

Interview with citizens at Ward level

Serial________ Ward No____________ Date________

Name ___________________________________________ Gender: 1. female, 2. male

Age: 01. below 18, 1. 18 – 26, 2. 27 – 34, 3. 35 – 42, 4. 43 – 50, 5. above 50

Education: 5. primary level, 6. high school level, 7. SSC, 8. HSC, 9. Bachelor level, 10. Masters level

Occupation: 1. student, 2. service, 3. business, 4. unemployed, 5. housewife

Q1: Do you come to know about the services/activities from the City Corporation prior to or during implementation? 1. Yes, 2. No, 3. Sometimes

Q2: Did you get information of what City Corporation will do in last one year?

1. Yes, 2. No

Q2a: If yes, what information or notice of work did you get on behalf of Corporation? 1. __________________

2. __________________

3. __________________

Q3: How did you come to know about these? 1. _________________

2. _________________

3. _________________

Q4: Do you get notice on new regulations (like taxes etc.)? How? 1. _______________

2. _______________

3. _______________

Q5: Whether you come to know about Corporation’s budget? 1. Yes, 2. No

Q6: How do you know? 1. ___________________

2. ___________________

Q7: Do you know about meeting at Tax/Ward office? 1. Yes, 2. No Q8: Opinion on how to increase accountability of City Corporation:

1. Information disclosure through local meeting

2. Information disclosure through mass media

3. Area wise campaigns of activities

4. Pay due attention to citizens' real problems

5. Stop corruption

6. People need to make them accountable

7. No comment

8. They need to duly supervise their works

9. We have to be aware ourselves

10. Others ________________________

References

Annex 2 Questionnaire for Corporation officials

[Head office]

Study on Proactive Disclosure of Dhaka South City Corporation

RIB with CHRI

Interview/checklist with City Corporation officials [Head office]

Serial________ Date________

Name: ___________________________________ Designation: ______________________

1. According to the City Corporation law, what are the documents, reports, and decisions

etc. which are supposed to be disclosed in front of the citizens?

2. How does the Corporation inform citizens about an activity or a project to be

implemented in a particular ward?

3. When the Corporation seeks to impose new regulations or revise the existing ones, such

as, taxes, levies, fines, rebates etc., how do they inform the citizens?

4. What are the committees under the City Corporation?

5. When is the budget of the City Corporation prepared? Whether people have scope to

participate in preparation of budget? Whether budget is disclosed to the citizens?

6. When is the statement of accounts (income and expenditure)/audit statement

prepared? Whether statement of accounts is disclosed to the citizens?

References

Annex 3 Questionnaire for City Corporation officials

[Local Tax/Ward office]

Study on Proactive Disclosure of Dhaka South City Corporation

RIB with CHRI

Interview/checklist with City Corporation officials [local office]

Serial________ Date________

Name: ___________________________________ Designation: ______________________

1. What are the rules for meeting at the Tax/Ward office? Whether resolutions of such

meetings are recorded and submitted to the head office? Whether people are

invited to participate in such meetings?

2. Whether there are provisions to inform citizens about the undertaken activities from

the Ward? How do they do?

3. Whether Tax/Ward office can prepare budget for the locality? How to involve

people in it?

4. Whether Tax/Ward office prepares reports on their annual activities to be submitted

to the Head office?

5. Whether Tax/Ward office prepares their statement of accounts to be submitted to

the Head office?

References

Annex 4 Tables (outputs of interviews of the citizens)

1. Gender

Frequenc

y

Percent

Valid Female 19 38.0

Male 31 62.0

Total 50 100.0

2. Age

Frequency Percent

Valid below 18 1 2.0

18 - 26 29 58.0

27 - 34 11 22.0

35 - 42 5 10.0

43 - 50 2 4.0

above 50 2 4.0

Total 50 100.0

3. Level of education

Frequency Percent

Valid Primary school 1 2.0

High school 6 12.0

SSC 5 10.0

HSC 9 18.0

Bachelor/honors 17 34.0

Masters 12 24.0

Total 50 100.0

4. Occupation:

Frequency Percent

Valid Student 21 42.0

Service 18 36.0

Business 6 12.0

Unemployed 1 2.0

Housewife 4 8.0

References

Total 50 100.0

Q1: Do the citizens come to know about the services/activities from City

Corporation prior to or during implementation?

Frequency Percent

Valid Yes 1 2.0

No 48 96.0

Sometimes 1 2.0

Total 50 100.0

Q2: Did the citizens get information of what City Corporation would do

in last one year?

Frequency Percent

Valid Yes 3 6.0

No 47 94.0

Total 50 100.0

Q2a: What information or notice of work did they get on behalf of

Corporation?

Frequency Percent

Valid Mosquito control 1 2.0

Electricity repairing 2 4.0

Not applicable 47 94.0

Total 50 100.0

Q3: How did they come to know about these?

Frequency Percent

Valid Miking 3 6.0

Not applicable 47 94.0

Total 50 100.0

Q4: Do the citizens get notice on new regulations (like taxes etc.)? How?

References

Frequency Percent

Valid Mass media 7 14.0

Miking 1 2.0

Notice at home 4 8.0

Cannot know 38 76.0

Total 50 100.0

Q5: Whether the citizens come to know about Corporation’s budget?

Frequency Percent

Valid Yes 2 4.0

No 48 96.0

Total 50 100.0

Q6: How do they know?

Frequency Percent

Valid Mass media 2 4.0

Not applicable 48 96.0

Total 50 100.0

Q7: Do they know about meeting at Tax/Ward office?

Frequency Percent

Valid No 50 100.0

Q8: Opinion of the respondents about accountability of City Corporation:

Frequency Percent

Valid Information disclosure

through local meeting

7 14.0

Information disclosure

through mass media

6 12.0

References

Area wise campaigns of

activities

9 18.0

Pay due attention to

citizens' real problems

10 20.0

Stop corruption 3 6.0

People need to make

them accountable

5 10.0

No comment 2 4.0

They need to duly

supervise their works

1 2.0

We have to be aware

ourselves

7 14.0

Total 50 100.0

Annex 5 Answers to RTI queries

(Based on interviews and collection of information from DSCC)

Query 1: What documents, reports and decisions does the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) disclose

to the public and how?

Answer: While the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Designated

Officer (DO) in the office under the RTI law was sought and interviewed regarding this query,

they initially showed irritation. They treat such queries as strange and abnormal. There are

certain sections in the Local Government (Dhaka City Corporation) Act, 2009 that stipulate that

the annual activity reports, audited reports, and updated citizen charter etc. have to be kept in

open place accessible to the citizens, but the DSCC officials admitted not to have seen those.

The law requires the City Corporation to publish their reports on yearly basis and make them

available to the citizens. It also requires that the resolutions of the standing committee meetings

of the Corporation be written and made public. The law further stipulates that all information

regarding activities of the Corporation can be asked for by citizens unless otherwise directed by

the government through official notifications. However, the officials do not feel that the DSCC is

to account for its activities to the citizens. They say they are only accountable to the Ministry of

Local Government and Rural Development (Local Government Division). They insist that they

report to the ministry in the way they want, and they submit the audited statements to them.

Query 2:

References

When the DSCC takes up any activity or project, how does it inform the citizens? The researcher

requested for 2 such specimen documents (circulars etc.).

Answer: When the DSCC takes up any activity or project, they circulate it as advertisement in the national

newspaper. [Some specimen advertisements are attached.] While the citizens at the ward level

were interviewed, 96% of the respondents say that they do not know what activity or project is

undertaken by the City Corporation. This can be linked to the low percentage of newspaper

reading habit. Even though people read newspaper for current issues, they hard see

advertisements on newspapers, except for few who look for job advertisements. Furthermore,

the notice board of the Corporation was found empty. They are not interested in putting the

notices of what the Corporation is going to do and in which areas. While asked about not putting

notices of activities on the notice board, the concerned officials at the DSCC could not give

satisfactory answers. They tried to mean that there are people who are connected and well

known of what the Corporation is going to do or will do. It refers to the practice of activities by

patron client relationship, not by rule of law. It refers to the presence of politically connected

people or syndicates who do not want the City Corporation to put the notices of the activities on

the notice except for the publication in newspapers.

Though only 4% of the interviewed citizens admitted they come to know about the activities of

the City Corporation in their locality, these activities include maintenance of electricity, gas or

water connection or tax collection, not the development activities like road construction etc.

Query 3: When the DSCC seeks to introduce any new rules and regulations or revise them (such as, tax

imposition, revision, fines or any other financial matters), how does it inform the citizens? The

researcher requested for 2 such specimen documents (circulars etc.).

Answer: This is one area in which DSCC was found to be interested. The City Corporation has made many

preparations for circulating for levying taxes, tolls, cesses, fines or for imposing any other

financial burden on the people of the area or the duty to publish electoral rolls. There are

notices about these on the notice board. There is also dissemination through hand microphone

in the locality. The City Corporation under separate revenue zones organizes fairs for publicizing

tax issues and collection of those. [Few specimen copies and photos are found in Annex 7.]

24% respondents at the ward level said, they come to know about matters related to taxes or

finance through mass media (mostly newspaper ads), dissemination through microphone, and

notices served at home.

Query 4:

How many committees are there in the DSCC? How do the committees hold meeting? The

researcher requested for the latest resolution of each committee meeting.

Answer:

References

As per the information provided by the City Corporation officials, there is currently no

committee following dissolution of the offices with the enactment of the Local Government (City

Corporation) (Amendment) Act, 2011 in November 2011, which declares division of Dhaka City

Corporation into two – Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City Corporation. Under

the new law, no committees are functional. However, Dhaka City Corporation issued an order on

14.06.2005 for forming 16 standing committees with the then seven to eight 8 Ward

Commissioners in each. The committees are as follow:

Finance and Establishment

Education

Waste management

Health, family planning and drainage

Accounts and audit

Public works and building

Water and electricity

Social welfare and community center

Sanitation

Revenue

Slum improvement

Women and children

Environment

Information technology

Sports and culture

Mosquito control

When RTI queries sought the resolutions of the most recent meetings of each standing

committee, Corporation officials offered many arguments and excuses to avoid responding to

the requests. The RTI applicant only received the order of the formation of the standing

committees with details of the members and the broad functions of the committees.

Query 5:

What are the provisions of the City Corporation to open up their fiscal budgets to the citizens?

What process do they follow in preparing the budget and whether people can participate in this

process? Whether the fiscal budget is published or circulated to the citizens? The researcher

requested for fiscal budgets of the last two years.

Answer: At the queries over legal provisions of the City Corporation themselves about budget

preparation process, participation of and exchanges with the citizens, and disclosing it to the

citizens, the concerned Corporation officials at both the central and zonal offices remain silent

and hesitant. Beyond their knowledge of what is said in their own laws, they referred to their

practices and the expectations of the concerned ministry. They kept repeating their point that

the ministry requires the budget to be submitted in a prescribed format to only the ministry.

References

They think it’s not the prerogative of the citizens to look into the budget, let alone their

participation in preparation process.

However, they gave written answer that Dhaka South City Corporation discloses its budget to

the citizens through press conference. Each year in the month of February/March, the accounts

department asks the heads of the departments of the Corporation for submitting their budgets

according to the budget heads. The concerned departments submit their budgets to the

accounts department. The accounts department compiles the budgets and submits to the

budget management committee for scrutiny. The draft budgets are reviewed meticulously in a

meeting chaired by the Chief Executive Officer and attended by the Secretary, Chief Engineer,

Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Sanitation Officer, Chief Health Officer, and Chief Accounts Officer.

A proposed budget is sent to the Local Government Division, Ministry of LGRD. With their

reviews and comments, the final budget is prepared.

The written answer further says, during the preparation of the 2012-2013 fiscal budget, the

Administrator of the DSCC held exchange meetings with the people in the five zones and

assessed the local demands, which are reflected in the budget.

The researcher did not get a copy of the budget without filing of an RTI application to the

Corporation.

Query 6:

What are the provisions of the City Corporation to let their accounts be audited yearly? Whether

citizens can see the audited accounts? Whether the audited accounts are published or circulated

to the citizens? The researcher requested for audited accounts of the last two years.

Answer: The concerned officials were found surprised and irritated initially at the queries and request for

audit statements. They took this request as a doubt to the operations of the Corporation

activities, and answered that there are number of government authorities to whom they are

accountable. The authorized audit firms make yearly audits into the accounts of the Corporation

by the December after the ending of each financial year, and they submit the same to the

ministry.

However, the research team avoided further arguments with the concerned officials, since the

mindset of the officials and the position of the Corporation over this particular issue has already

been revealed. They still prefer the secretary and remain loyal only to the higher-ups, not to the

citizens.

The interviewed officials do not find any link of the audited statements to the interest of the

citizens, and so, finds the request as unusual. However, they supplied a couple of pages from the

audit report.

References

Query 7: What are the provisions of the Ward Council to prepare their fiscal budgets and disclose the

same to the citizens? The researcher requested for fiscal budgets of Ward Councils 1, 2 and 3 for

the last two years.

Answer: The City Corporation does not have provision for and require the Ward Council to prepare and

propose a budget locally. The concerned Ward Councils receive amounts from the heads of the

fiscal budget of the Corporation.

According to the interview of the citizens, 96% of the respondents answered that they know

nothing of the budgets of the City Corporation. However, 4% said that they came to know the

total budget amounts of the Corporation through newspaper.

Even though the written answers from the Corporation claim that the Administrator had pre-

budget exchange meetings with the people in 5 zones to assess the local needs, the responses

from the citizens at the Ward level do not reflect any such initiative. While giving opinion on

what they expect from the City Corporation and how the Corporation can be transparent, the

citizens rather expressed concern over people’s unawareness and lack of information of what

the Corporation would do in the areas.

Query 8:

What are the provisions of Zonal Office and Ward Council to submit their local activity reports

yearly to the Corporation? The researcher requested for annual reports of Ward Councils 1, 2

and 3 for the last two years.

The written answer from the Corporation says no such reports are received by the accounts

department.

Query 9:

What are the provisions of Zonal Office and Ward Council to submit their accounts statement for

the activities implemented yearly to the Corporation? The researcher requested for accounts

statement of Ward Councils 1, 2 and 3 for the last two years.

The written answer from the Corporation says no such statement is received by the accounts

department.

References

Annex 6 Summary of interviews of the Corporation’s

officials

Initial impression from the officials was not very encouraging.

They do not want someone from outside to know about the activities of the City

Corporation.

They are not comfortable to inform any individual about the functions and functionaries

of City Corporation. He says that they have internal auditing system, and they are

accountable to the Ministry of LGRD, and from time to time they announce their

programs through newspaper advertisements.

‘We are only responsible to the government ministry’, as they say.

Concept of accountability to the public is almost missing there.

There is a legal department, but they suggest that the responsible person there is not

very active to provide information.

They say, they don’t have enough time for such information processing and disclosure.

They attach less importance on information disclosure on the councilors’ part. They say

people come to the councilors whenever needed.

In government offices, officers in charge of research, documentation and information

disclosure are less interested in their works. This is because their works are not expected

and valued from the high-ups.

They are not very interested in circulating the notices on the notice board. [In fact, the

notice board is found empty.] They say they have direct contact with the clients (firms or

individuals) to float tenders etc., and they have media for press conference.

They say it would be better if they could disclose more information on the website.

However, the ICT section is not capable to do so. They say they cannot do always what

they need to. ‘There are some internal pull factors...’

The councilors avoid documenting and circulating notices or entertaining complaints in

writing. The works are rather done in informal ways through personal contacts. He says

informal ways are better. [It is against rule to law though, and it hinders accountability

and transparency.]

He has got an interesting point to be quoted, “Citizens need to be aware to make the

Corporation more active”.

References

Annex 7 Notices of the City Corporation through notice

board, newspaper, and billboards etc. including

photographs

Notice board:

Bill board on tax fair:

References

Miking on tax payment

References

Newspaper ad 2.11.12 on tax rebate

References

Newspaper ad on mosquito control 8.11.'12

References

Notice on mobile court 7.10.'12

References

Tender notice 11.11.'12

References